Hi Everybody,

I'm new to the forum, but I've had my 51 Buick Special Deluxe with manual transmission for about 30 years, but it hasn't been on the road for about 20 years because last time out it spun a rod bearing. Then other things in life got in the way so it sat still. Now I have time to work on it again. A couple years ago, I pulled the motor and took it apart. In addition to the bad bearing, crank and rod, the head gasket had leaked antifreeze into 4 cylinders and corroded the walls bad. I tried to hone them but the corrosion was too deep. Getting it bored, new pistons, crank reground, etc., is too expensive, so last fall I bought a motor off Craigslist (with manual transmission and clutch attached) that I have verified came from a 1953 Special so it should swap right in - I learned that 1951-1953 were the same engine. I have verified the year by the engine serial number. Now I'm waiting for the snow to go away so I can work in my unheated garage and put that motor in. I was told it came out of a low miles car and runs good, but will take it apart and check bearing clearance, rings, valves, etc. I've rebuilt a few motors over the years but this is my first straight 8. I had just converted the car to 12 Volts when the bearing went bad. I am in the process of converting the radio to 12 volts by swapping the vibrator and power transformer; and rewiring the tube filaments into series pairs, combining tubes in pairs with same filament current. I am a retired electrical engineer and worked in an audio equipment repair shop in the late 1960s, so converting the radio to 12 volts rather than putting a big resistor in series with it is a fun challenge for me and I don't know of anyone that has done it this way. When I got the car, I had to dig into the radio and change several bad parts to get it working on 6 volts. I have determined that the radio is a 1948, but there isn't much difference between a '48 and a '51 radio, except for a couple of small circuit changes. I have a factory shop manual for the car.

I look forward to getting advice here when I have questions about the motor and I look forward to helping others too.

Other things that take my time now are a 1968 Pontiac and about 75 old outboard motors.- hence my nickname: Outbdnut
Dave